City funds for Mills River Watershed Project on hold

Published: Friday, February 22, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 9:02 p.m.

Hendersonville City Council decided to put funding for the Mills River Watershed Project on hold, waiting to hear updates on other funding sources to see exactly how much the project will need and where the funds will be directed.

The project aims to use “best management practices” set by the Environmental Protection Agency to stabilize sources of stormwater sediment that threaten to put Mills River streams back on a state list of impaired waterways in 2014.

Mills River headwaters flow into intakes for the cities of Hendersonville and Asheville, which supply drinking water to more than 50,000 taps.

The Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, working in conjunction with the Mills River Partnership, was awarded a $200,000 EPA 319 grant for the project. The funds are set to be distributed over a three-year period to pay for the implementation of best management practices to reduce stormwater pollution in specific fields, develop and deliver educational programs on soil and water conservation, and to develop and fund the leadership position of a watershed coordinator.

The Partnership will need office space and staff to receive the grant funds and run the project. It also needs more money.

“Availability of the 319 (grant) funds is contingent upon local matching funds totaling approximately $180,000 over the three-year life of the grant,” the Partnership said in a letter to Hendersonville officials.

Council members questioned where exactly the city’s funds would go and if their dollars would be used to pay for staff to work on the project, or the project itself. They also questioned whether the city of Asheville — currently grappling with the state to keep its water service in-house — would support the project, or if Hendersonville would get the squeeze for all of the required matching funds.

Mayor Barbara Volk said the Partnership has applied for grants from two agencies that, if awarded, could take care of up to $79,000 of the matching funds. The group should know the award status of the grants by the end of the month, she added.

The council decided to wait for more information before making a decision on funding.

“We’re not saying that we’re not going to help out, but we still need further information,” Volk said.

Utilities Director Lee Smith said the city supported the Partnership’s efforts in the past with $30,000 of its budget, split and disbursed to the group over three years.

The Partnership is a diverse group of stakeholders that includes farmers, municipal water suppliers, conservationists and local governments. Now a nonprofit, nongovernmental corporation, the Partnership began as a concerted effort to clean up erosion and pollution along the Mills River, which was listed as impaired in 1998. The organization dried up when water quality improved and grant money ran out.

After a fungicide spill caused a large fish kill along Mills River’s south fork in 2007, the dormant partnership was revitalized by CMLC and other stakeholders.

Smith asked City Council for direction at a recent planning retreat. Going off of suggestions from the Partnership, he said the city could opt to contribute to the project with a lump sum taken out of the city’s operating expenses, or tack on a fee to customers’ water bills.

He said another option would be to let them apply for funds for a specific project that would “directly benefit water quality for the city” and would come to the council for approval in the form of a budget request.

The Partnership mentioned that office space at the city’s water treatment plant in Mills River for staff and volunteers as the project evolves could be applied to the required funds as “in-kind contributions.”

Ralph Freeman, a former councilman who continues to represent the city on the Partnership board, assured the council that the actual dollars coming to the Partnership “has to go to best management practices, from what I understand.”

“So that funding would not be used for the actual person doing the supervision?” the mayor asked.

“No. But there are, as you mentioned, some in-kind credits they would get, some matching credits that they would get by using office space to offset some of the matching dollars that were needed,” he said.

He added that the Partnership is “not interested” at this stage in having a full-time person administer the grant, but will take a qualified part-timer to get the ball rolling.

“If they don’t have anybody then, of course, they’re going to lose the grant, as I understand it,” he said.

The grant is set to go into effect July 1, according to Freeman. City funds would need to be allocated beginning next fiscal year.

“I think for the Partnership to continue to exist or do the work that they’ve done in the past, they’re going to have to have some token amount of funding to enable them to get the grants,” Freeman said.

<p>Hendersonville City Council decided to put funding for the Mills River Watershed Project on hold, waiting to hear updates on other funding sources to see exactly how much the project will need and where the funds will be directed. </p><p>The project aims to use “best management practices” set by the Environmental Protection Agency to stabilize sources of stormwater sediment that threaten to put Mills River streams back on a state list of impaired waterways in 2014. </p><p>Mills River headwaters flow into intakes for the cities of Hendersonville and Asheville, which supply drinking water to more than 50,000 taps.</p><p>The Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, working in conjunction with the Mills River Partnership, was awarded a $200,000 EPA 319 grant for the project. The funds are set to be distributed over a three-year period to pay for the implementation of best management practices to reduce stormwater pollution in specific fields, develop and deliver educational programs on soil and water conservation, and to develop and fund the leadership position of a watershed coordinator. </p><p>The Partnership will need office space and staff to receive the grant funds and run the project. It also needs more money.</p><p>“Availability of the 319 (grant) funds is contingent upon local matching funds totaling approximately $180,000 over the three-year life of the grant,” the Partnership said in a letter to Hendersonville officials. </p><p>Council members questioned where exactly the city's funds would go and if their dollars would be used to pay for staff to work on the project, or the project itself. They also questioned whether the city of Asheville — currently grappling with the state to keep its water service in-house — would support the project, or if Hendersonville would get the squeeze for all of the required matching funds.</p><p>Mayor Barbara Volk said the Partnership has applied for grants from two agencies that, if awarded, could take care of up to $79,000 of the matching funds. The group should know the award status of the grants by the end of the month, she added.</p><p>The council decided to wait for more information before making a decision on funding.</p><p>“We're not saying that we're not going to help out, but we still need further information,” Volk said.</p><p>Utilities Director Lee Smith said the city supported the Partnership's efforts in the past with $30,000 of its budget, split and disbursed to the group over three years.</p><p>The Partnership is a diverse group of stakeholders that includes farmers, municipal water suppliers, conservationists and local governments. Now a nonprofit, nongovernmental corporation, the Partnership began as a concerted effort to clean up erosion and pollution along the Mills River, which was listed as impaired in 1998. The organization dried up when water quality improved and grant money ran out.</p><p>After a fungicide spill caused a large fish kill along Mills River's south fork in 2007, the dormant partnership was revitalized by CMLC and other stakeholders. </p><p>Smith asked City Council for direction at a recent planning retreat. Going off of suggestions from the Partnership, he said the city could opt to contribute to the project with a lump sum taken out of the city's operating expenses, or tack on a fee to customers' water bills. </p><p>He said another option would be to let them apply for funds for a specific project that would “directly benefit water quality for the city” and would come to the council for approval in the form of a budget request.</p><p>The Partnership mentioned that office space at the city's water treatment plant in Mills River for staff and volunteers as the project evolves could be applied to the required funds as “in-kind contributions.” </p><p>Ralph Freeman, a former councilman who continues to represent the city on the Partnership board, assured the council that the actual dollars coming to the Partnership “has to go to best management practices, from what I understand.”</p><p>“So that funding would not be used for the actual person doing the supervision?” the mayor asked.</p><p>“No. But there are, as you mentioned, some in-kind credits they would get, some matching credits that they would get by using office space to offset some of the matching dollars that were needed,” he said. </p><p>He added that the Partnership is “not interested” at this stage in having a full-time person administer the grant, but will take a qualified part-timer to get the ball rolling. </p><p>“If they don't have anybody then, of course, they're going to lose the grant, as I understand it,” he said.</p><p>The grant is set to go into effect July 1, according to Freeman. City funds would need to be allocated beginning next fiscal year.</p><p>“I think for the Partnership to continue to exist or do the work that they've done in the past, they're going to have to have some token amount of funding to enable them to get the grants,” Freeman said.</p><p>Council may pick the issue back up at its regular meeting March 7.</p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>